Reading indicator for manometers



Nov. z 192e. 1,605,014v

w. THOMAS READING INDICATOR FOR MANOMETERS Filed May 5l, 1921 CNC g55 Patented Nov. 2, 1926.

STATS rarer Vt'lll'arilll THGMAS. 015I4 lJVES'J NEW YRK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO PNEUMERCTOR CGMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION F MANE.

READING INDICATOR FOR MANOMETERS.

Application lcd May 31,

The subject of this invention is a device which, in one of' its forms, is adapted to be used in connection with a mano-meter of the column type, and in another form with manometers of the types having mechanically actuated pointers7 for accomplishing one or more of the fol-lowing results:

(l) Beading the heightl of the indicating column with a high degree of precision.

Reading l'luctuatio-ns in the indications of the manometer with an enlargement at the reading point of such fluctuations.

(.3) Reading speoic gra-vities or values dependent upon specific gravity in connection with any manometer upon an enlarged scale.

The nature of thev invention, its capacity for serving the above noted purposes, and the manner in which it is used to accomplish said purposes may best be understood by an explanation of` specific instruments variously embodying the invention, for which purpose attention is' directed to the following speciiicationand to the drawings forming a part thereof.

ln the drawings,-

Figure 1 is an elevation of a column manometer showing my reading indicator connected therewith.

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic elevation showing the manometer tube in section and' a part of the reading indicator in broken lines to :illu-strate the mode of use thereof.y

Figures 3, 4. and 5 are cross sections of the indicator in combination with the man nomet'er taken on lines 3-3, efr-4f, and 5-5, respectively, of Fi ure 1. Y A

Figure da is a lragmentaii'y elevation of a part of the pointer.

Figure 6 is a front elevation. of a modiiied form of my indicator designed for use with a manometer or gauge of the mechanical type having a swinging hand.

in Figure 1 the numeral 1() represents the frame of the manometer supporting` a tube 11 and a scale 12 besidev the tube. Said tube is adapted to contain an indicating liquid, and is connected at its lower end with a chamber 1S in which a supply of the liquid is contained, and to which is connected a pipe 141 for conducting air or other medium under pressure into`- the chamber, so as to apply pressure Ito th-ef".fluidA therein and force a column of the fluid up' into. the indicating tube. The liquid column in the manometertube may be mercury or'any other suitable liquid, but since mercury is the liquid most commonly used in such apparatus, I will assume for the purposes of this description that the liquid here is mercury, althoughl without intending. thereby to imply any limitation of the scopeinwhich I claim protection for my invention. `Although, kthe manometer is 'sh-own in Figure 1 as being located at an inclination, such showing is not intended as a limitation, but the manometer is to be considered as typical of any column manometer whether inclined or vertical. And, indeed in Figure 6 the use of my invention with a. vertical manometer is shown. u

Connected with the manometer frame. beside tlie indicating tube thereof, is a guide rod 15, and on this'guide rod is mounted a reading indicator, in which the invention particularly resides, in such manner that said indicator may be shifted bodily lengthwise of the manometer and set at any desired position. 16 represents: the frame or mount* ing structure of my' indicator; and herein the Word frame is-used with a broad significance to indicate any structure, however i'orrned,y upon which may be mounted the4 other parts of theindicator arranged andi operating substantially as required by the following claims.A Y This frame (in the form now being described) includes armsl? and 18' to which are connected blocks 19 having guideway's through which thel rod 15 eX- tends, said blocks being adapted to slide on the rod. In the armi? and the block connected therewith is mounted a set-screw 20 threaded into a tapped hole therein and adapted to bear on the rod 15 so as to clamp the indicator in any of its positions.

In the ar1n17 is ran opening or window 21 across which is secured a transparent sheet or pane 22 bearing aL hairline 23. Said arm' is so disposed that the hairline crosses both the indicating tube and the scale 1Q and is adapted to be putin register either with the meniscus at the head of the: liquid column `or with any of the graduations of the scale. Preferably, also, the location of thehairline is as close as possible to the scale. and' tothe tube in order to avoid errors ofreadi'ng' duel to parallax.l

The hairline may be scratched on a transparent'sheet' of' celluloid or other suitable material, as` here: indicated, or it mayVT be a filament or wire scratched across an open space in a known manner, and it typilies any sort ci sighting point or sighting element which may be provided upon the trame tov coact with the indicating column or the scale ot the manometer. Such sighting point may also be provided by one ci the edges ci the arm 17 or by some other point upon said arm or other part ot' the trame to the same purpose and with the samey efect so iar as the principles of the invention which l claim herein are concerned.

The blocks 19 (which are, in eflect, parts of the arms 17 and 13) support a second guide rod 2iand on said second guide rod is mounted a traveller 25 which is adapted to slide nnder the guidance of the rod lengthwise ot the manometer relatively to the frame. A set-screw 26 threaded into the traveller 25 serves to clamp the same in any desiredL position on the guide rod 24, This traveller isprei'erably made in part as a block 27 which slides upon the rod 2a, and in part as a plate which projects over the indicating tube and the scale 12 and is 'provided with a window and a sighting mark 23, substantially lilre or equivalent to the sighting' marlr 23 and to all equivalents oi' the latter. The end of the traveller opposite to the block portion thereot1 is preferably provided with a guideway 29, as shown in Figure 5, which embraces the adjacent edge ot the trame and is retained and guided thereby in near proximity to the scale and tubel ot the manometer.

An index or pointer30 is mounted on the frame by a pivot 31 and said index is, in effect, a lever having arms of unequal lengths. lts short arm is composed oit two parts, namely, an extension 30?l integral with the long arm and a piece 30b which is adjustably connected to theI extension 30a by meansl ot a pivot 32 and a clamp screw 33. In Figure la, the holes in the pointer which receive pivots 31 and 32 are designated 31a and 32a, respectively. The clamp screw 33 passes through a slot. 33a in the extension 30u which is somewhat wider than the shank ot' the screw, whereby an angular adjustment of the parts 30'L and 30b is permitted. The latter part is pivoted to a linlr 34 which is joined to the traveller by a pivot 35.

A. scale plate 36 is secured to the frame adjacent to the index, and is provided with graduations 37 in a line close to the path wherein the index swings. These graduations may be laid out for different uses to indicate specifically dili'erent values, such as linear heights, or depths, in feet and inches, or other units ot measure, or volume or weight in any unit-s, or specific gravity based upon unity or upon any conventional or arbitrary scale such as the Baume scale. it is within my contemplation to provlde. the same scale plate with two or more scales ot these various characteristics, in order that the same instrun'ient may be adapted to read depths or heights measured by the manometer, and volumes or weights ot liquids which correspond to such indica.- tions, or both depths in and speciiic gravities of liquids, or any two or more oit the values indicated and or related values. Hence in showing the scale 37 without characteristic numbers or other symbols l have intended to indicate that such scale typiiies any scale oi' any character, or a plurality ot such scales, without other limitation than is required by the appended claims.

y The provision for adjustment between the two parts which torni the short arm ot the index enables such index to be set correctly with respect'to the scale and to the range of movement of the traveller. For convenience oit sucn setting the traveller is provided with a marl; 33 which is adapted to register-with marks 39 and 4:0 on the frame at the extreme limits of the indicated range ot movement of said traveller, and the adjustment ot the index is made to bring its extremity into register with oneI or the other extreme graduation oit the scale 37 when the traveller is placed to register its mark 33 with one or the other of the marks 39 and l-O.

Une use of the indicator is to read with extreme accuracy the height of the indicating column to 'fractional subdivisions ot the graduations on the scale 12. Such use is indicated in Figures 1 and 2 in this wise:-

Assuming that the movement ot the traveller,I which is measured by the index 30 and scale 37, is fully as great as the distance between unit graduations of t-he sca-le 12, and that the scale 37 indicates fractions ot the intervals between such unit graduations, then, in order to take an exact reading ot' the manometer, lthe traveller is first shifted with respect to the iframe until the index 30 Ais brought beside the zero or beginning point or" the scale 37. Tn the present instrument the Zero point is at the right hand end ot scale 37. There the traveller is held tast conveniently by setting up thescrew 26, and the whole indicator, including the frame 16, is shifted along the manometer until the sighting mark 28 registers as accurately as possible with the nearest unit graduation ot the scale 12 below the head ot the indicatingl column, and the trame is made tast in this position by the screw 20. Then the traveller is loosened and shifted until its sighting mark becomes tangent to the meniscus at the head of the indicating column. This movement causes an enlarged reading, by means ot the index and scale 37, of the 'traction ot the unit space on the scale 12 between the graduation over which the sighting line is placed and the end oi theV column. In this way an accurate reading of the posit-ion ofthe column is taken in terms of units and fractions of the unit of the scale l2. Figure 2 shows the indicating column at al, and indicates in dotted lines the relation of the traveller with its sighting` mark in register with the end of the column. lt makesr no difference what the particular units of this scale` maybe or how far apart or near together such units are, provided only the traveller is capable of moving at least as far as the distance between two such graduations and the scale 37 is laid off in terms of fractions of the unit;

Accuracy of reading commensurate with the multiplication by the index is possible because a sighting mark, such as the line 28, can be put in register with a gradnation of the scale and with the head of the liquid column, with much greater accuracy than a sight can be taken by the unaided eye from the head of an indicating column to a graduation mark beside it, and more accurately also than the fractional parts into` which the space between marks on 'the scale is divided by a sighting' mark, can be estimated.

lf the manometer is used to measure the pneumatic pressure balancing a head of liquid above a submerged point in a tank of known dimensions, the reading taken may be in terms of linear depth of the submerged point below the surface of the liquid, or of the volume or weight of the liquid, in any unit-s. For that use, the scales l2 and 37 are graduated in terms of the particular value which the specitic instrument applied thereto is designed to indicate.

This indicator may also be used for the purpose of reading specific gravities in` connection with means for creating fluid pressures equivalent to the heads of liquid at different levels in a tank containing liquid, when the difference between such levels is known, as explained in the Patent No. narines, aat-ea June 5, ieee, or C. w. Stancliffe.

ifligure 6 shows a modification of the reading inuicator adapted for manometers of the mechanical type, such as the well known pressure gages, wherein the distortion of a Bourdon tube, or a diaphragnu or a series of diaphragms is transmitted by i'nechanical movement to a reading indicating hand. Such a hand is represented at 4-9, being there shown illustratively and without reference to any particular indicating position. The manometer may be equipped with a dial of the ordinary sort graduated to read in terms of the values desired to be indicated in any particular case. rlhe reading indicator for use in this combination differs from that first described in that it is mounted to swing about the center whereon the hand i9 swings7 and that its traveller must move about the same axis.

The frame of the reading indicator, therefore,` is appropriately constructed and shaped to enable it to swing about the een ter 5l, and the bar 24a and the edge of the frame, which together guide the traveller,

are appropriately curved. ln all other respects the traveller, sighting marks and multiplying` index are essentially the same asV already described. ln order to make possible an exact registration of the sighting marks of the reading indicator with the hand 49, the latter is conveniently formed with a window 52 and sighting line extending across the window, and made in any of the ways indicated for the sighting marks 23 and `28. Thisfmodiiied reading indicator is adapted to determine specific gravities or related values in connection with the hand of a mechanical gage in the same way as already describedy ink connection with the column type 'of manometer.

@ther modifications may be made in the construction, form and arrangement of the reading indicator, and in its mode of combination and use, with the manometer, all within the scope and spirit ofmy invention as set forth in the claims.

l will state in this connection with reference to the index 30 and `scale 3"? that ail-- though the relatively movable member of this couple is an index havinga single point and the relatively stationary member is a scale having a series of graduations, a reversal of this arrangement, wherein the movable element embodies a series of graduations or point-s and the relatively stationary element is a single point,is the equivalent of the arrangement shown and is within the protection of my claims directed to that arrangement. i

Vvhat l claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: j

l. The combination, with a manon'ieter having a tube to contain a liquid indicifiting column and a scale beside said tube, of a reading indicator coirqarising` a une mounted adjacent to said mailiometer with provisions for adjustment longitudinally of said tube and having a sighting point adaptedto be placed in register with one ofthe graduations of said scale or with the head of the liquid column, a traveller mounted on said.4 frame and. movable longitudinally of said4 tube and having a sighting" point adapted to be placed in register with the head of said column, an index and means connectingsaid index with said traveller and operable thereby to indicate on an enlarged scale the movement thereof relatively to the frame.

2. The combination with a manometer having an indicating element, of a reading indicator having a frame arranged to be mounted adjacent to the manometer and to be adjusted in the directions of movement oi said element, and having` a sighting point arranged to be placed over and in register with said element, a traveller mounted on said trame and being adjustable thereon in the same direction as the trame and an index coupled to said traveller and con strncted to indicate to an enlarged scale the adjustments ci the traveller relatively to the Jtrame.

3. A. readingindicator for manometers comprising `traine having a guide member, a traveller mounted adjnstably on said guide member, said traveller and the rame having' respective sighting' points adapted to be separately placed in register vvith dit- 'erent positions the indicating element ot a manometer, a multiplying' index mounted on the :trame and coupled to the traveller so as to be moved by and with the latter and a scale mounted on the trame in cooperative relation to said index.

fr reading indicator -or manometers comprisingr a 'traine havinga sighting point and including a guide member, a cale lined upon said frame, an indes'. having;` a long` arm and a short arm pivoted to said il'rame in a manner such that the longl arm moves in conjunction With said scale, a traveller mounted to be adjustable along said guide member and having a sighting point, and means connecting said traveller to the short arm ol: said index to apply movement thereto, each o' said sighting' points being adapted 'ror independent placement in coninnction with the indicating' element of ay nianometer.

5. A column manometer having` a longitudinal scale of gradnations and having` a guide, a reading' indicator mounted on said guide and Abeing` adjustable lengthwise ot the manometer, a traveller 'forming` part of the indicator mounted with provisions for adjustment lengthwise oi the manometer independently otl the balance or the indicator and havinp; a sighting` mark adapted to be placed in register with a graduation of said scale and with the end ot the manometer column in turn, an index, means connecting said index with said traveller, and a scale arranged as part ot said indicator to cooperate with said index, said last-named scale and index being constructed to multiply movements of the traveller.

64 ln combination with a manometer of the column type having)- a longitudinal scale, a reading indicator comprising` a traveller having, a sighting marit adapted to be placed in register With selected graduations of said scale and with the head oi"- the indicating column ot the n'ianon'ieter in turn, an index carried by said indicator and coupled to said traveller to be moved by and with the latter and having` a multiplying arm, and a scale complemental to said arn also carried by said'indicator and adapted to be adjusted by the operator with said traveller and to beset in stationary position relatively ther to, said last-named scale beingv established in terms oi' Subclivisions of the iirst-named scale.

7. ln combination with a column manometer and a scale beside the same, a reading indicator mounted adjacent to said manometer With provision for adjustment longi tudinally thereof and comprising a frame, a sighting element relatively movable on said iraine in the direction oi movement thereof, a multiplying index coupled to said sighting eier ent and to the trame so as to be moved in consequence o1" such relative movement, and a scale connected to the trame and arranged in conjunction With said index; said sight-ing,` element being arranged with capability of being pnt in register With a graduation ot the first scale and with the head of the indicating; column in turn, and thesecond scale being established to show values dependent on the distance between diferent positions or' the sighting element in terms of the units. and Jfractions thereof, of the rstscale.

8. A reading indicator comprising,l a frame, a traveller mounted movably upon said iframe and having a sighting mark, an index couple comprising complemental index and scale meniibers, one member ot which is stationary upon the `frame and the other member is pivoted to the frame in such manner as t0 cooperate with the stationary member, said pivoted member having an arm, means connecting said arm to said member in a manner permitting angular adjustment relatively thereto, and a link connecting said arm With said traveller.

In testimony whereof l have anis-ed my signature.

VLLIAM THOR/IAS. 

